May 2006

May heralds the start to summer as the garden looks at its best; flowers in the herbaceous border open and the first roses begin to bloom. The weather has cheered up to encourage us to venture out among the jungles or the manicured areas we call 'our gardens'.

Enjoy watching RHS Chelsea for inspiration and ideas; you know you can do it!! Relaxing in the garden after a hard day at work is one of nature's greatest tonics. The sights, sounds and smells allow your senses to react and energize you for your next task!

If you have a dry area around the house why not try and plant up a small rockery garden. Alpines are tolerant of cold weather but they hate wet conditions so incorporate large handfuls of grit into each planting hole and mulch the area with rocks and pea gravel. Make sure the grit or gravel is tucked right under the plant to prevent any contact of the foliage with the soil. Weed and feed your lawn if you haven't yet achieved it but remember to put the granules on before it rains, or water it within two days, as the fertilizer could scorch the grass. Any moss or weeds that die can then be raked out and grass seed scattered into the bare patches. Use lawn top dressing first to help fill in any holes and give good growing conditions for the seed.

Monitor your roses, lilacs and fruit trees and tear off any suckers that appear at the base of the plant, do not cut them as this will encourage more vigorous growth. Support your border plants as they grow, you will find it easier to encourage new growth through a structure than to tie up stems that have collapsed over the border. Peonies, delphiniums and hollyhocks are among some of the plants that benefit from a stout manufactured support down to canes and string or even twigs.

Once the magnificent display of the tulips are over, it is a good idea to deadhead them and let them die back. Most need warm dry summers while they are dormant so it is a good idea to lift them if they are not in a warm, dry sunny spot. Lift and heel them in close together or put them into pots of compost in full sunlight. Once the foliage has died down lift the bulbs and dry them in the sun outdoors or under glass. After a week or so rub off the foliage and roots and store them in a dry place until November. Towards the end of May plant out summer bedding in areas that need to be lifted by a splash of colour. Large informal drifts help liven up a border without it becoming to gaudy.

Plants for May are the cottage garden plants like Aquilegia, Alliums for their rich globular heads while not forgetting peonies and the late tulips. Shrubs to include would be the lilacs, mock oranges (Philadelphus) and Deutzia. Happy gardening!

Contacts
The regular "In the Garden" features for Monkey Magazine are written and researched by Cat Wilkins. If you have a comment, or would like to make a suggestion for possible future topics, please feel free to email her by clicking on this link: Cat Wilkins